Fig. 7

Regional comparison of published sub-centennial paleoecologic sites in the central and southern Sierra Nevada. Map in the top left panel shows the location of each site (colored squares) represented in the forest canopy openness-climate response graphs (right main panel). Solid grey line represents 50-year spline of climate, derived from the North American Drought Atlas (Cook et al. 1999; Herweijer et al. 2007). Colored dash lines represent 50-year spline of the vegetation response index (VRI) representing forest canopy openness. Thin colored line indicates pollen-derived VRI datapoints. Regional fire frequency study indicated by dotted (high frequency) or hashed (low frequency) overlay (Swetnam 1993; Swetnam et al. 2009). Vertical dashed lines indicate broad climatic time periods. LIA = Little Ice Age, MCA = Medieval Climate Anomaly. Bottom left panel shows areal context of the Sierra Nevada range (cream) in California. SQNF = Sequoia National Forest. SNF = Sierra National Forest. YNP = Yosemite National Park